4 May 2018
Menu du jour
“Everything you can imagine is real” said Pablo Picasso. I had never heard of this quote before and I only came acoss it recently. Even if I don’t completely understand it, I rather like it somehow, but only if I could be sure that I really understood it. In any case, it’s worthy of investigation. If true, wouldn’t it get to the very heart of Art? But if it doesn’t, couldn’t it equally take us all down the road to madness? And what is the function of ‘can’ in this phrase? Does it add anything?
Today, there are just way too many crazy people in our world to take this remark at face value because delusion seems to be on the menu du jour, I will simply clarify for myself, that Art deals in fiction, while Science and History must invariably deal in fact.
Roughly one hundred years ago when Picasso made this remark, I presume that he was referring to the Art world almost exclusively. But Art has evolved so radically since then, broadening out like a tsunami and washing over the entire 20th century. Today, Post-Modernism still casts its shadow over our open landscape; cultural politcal and artistic.
I understand what he means in the simplest of terms. As a painter, I get it. So did a fanciful painter like Bosch, and though separated by centuries, Picasso seems to say: “Imagine something in your mind, then create it.” It’s not too complicated, but not always easy to grasp either. As a slogan though, it’s pithy, and indeed challenging, speaking directly to the mind of any creative person. He says; imagine it, then do it, like Nike says on its billboards.
I hate to be so pendantic, but being an American today, obliges me to note that it’s crucial to remember that Picasso was referring exclusively to things artistic, not cultural or poiltical if I understand him. In a roundabout way, Picasso’s observation helped to contributed to the conspiracy theories with which we now live with today. My response is to turn my back on it all and keep painting in my own small corner of the universe.
This image from two evening ago is rather unconventional, perhaps unpalatable for those looking for the reassurance of reality in a photographic sense of the term. My pictures on the whole don’t seem to neatly fit on the shelves of the Art world
because they are often either too ‘abstract’ for some but not ‘real’ enough for others. If I thought too much about this dillema I’d be in a pickle, so I choose to just keep forging ahead. This small study is a curious thing and it speaks to a child within me who is direct. I can feel those gaseous clouds breathing life into the surrounding sky. From the beach, I remember that they appeared to be large inflated creatures from my own childish imagination all rotating rhythmically in a kind of pneumatic bliss. And like a child, I painted them quickly without hesitation. So thus, it begs the question: Is this small painting imagined? Or is it real? And does it matter?
I think it was certainly a real experience for me while painting it. Certainly, the child from long ago imagined it thus because otherwise I wouldn’t have painted it in the way I did. Unlike a procedural painter who plans the process out in advance, this kind of painting I make here at the beach has no concrete plan. My only wish for any of these pictures is for my subconscious imagination to align with an understanding of my craft during sensorial session. It’s never guaranteed but indeed, practice, though never really perfect, can be really insightful for the artist. When a session painting comes to life within minutes of beginning work, then it’s a prayer of sorts. Is that what Picasso meant?
No comments:
Post a Comment